The Dancer
by noragamii
Summary: Yato has been in love with Hiyori since he first saw her dance. Modern AU. Yatori


Originally, Yato hadn't believed in love at first sight or infatuation at first sight or anything like that. In fact, he had never been one for those emotions at all. They were pesky feelings that, really, just caused everyone a lot of hurt in the end.

Until he saw her.

Her name was Hiyori. He had decided to see the ballet one winter night for some reason. He couldn't remember what had given him the idea to purchase a hundred dollar ticket to see some people prance around, but on that evening he found himself enthralled by the way the woman moved.

Her dancing…it wasn't swan like, because those words were too _basic_ to describe her movements. She danced like water. Smooth and calm at one point, when she would do a turn or go up on her toe. And than just as quickly she would be as strong as the ocean waves, leaping and flying across the stage. Just like water, she may have looked gentle but if Yato put his strength in comparison to hers he was nothing.

She captivated him from the moment she had stepped on to the stage. And just like that, he was burning away hundreds of dollars a week to watch her. It was the same dance every time, but each time he noticed a new detail. The way her brow crinkled during a tough jump, and then the softening of her eyes when she landed it. He never thought he could find out so much about a person just through ballet. But there was something about her, the way she pushed herself, the way her eyes held sadness behind them and mysteries that Yato yearned to uncover.

She was so close yet so far out of his reach and Yato felt a fascination with her, a connection. It was almost embarrassing. He thought she was the most wonderful woman he had ever laid eyes on, yet she didn't know him. He was just one of the many nameless faces in the crowd.

And then the end of the month came. Yato came out of the theater in a sort of happy daze from the beautiful dancing. And then the depression hit him. It usually did after each performance, brought about by the obvious fact that he would never actually meet this woman that he had been enthralled by for so long. But tonight it was worse. Because that night was the last night performance. Tomorrow Hiyori would pack up and move on to the next city, leaving Yato with a thousand questions and regrets in his head.

He pulled out a cigarette. He would need it tonight. In fact, he would probably need something a lot stronger than just a cigarette. Just as Yato clicked his lighter, the side door of the theater creaked open and she came out. The cigarette fell from his mouth.

It was different seeing her off the stage. She still held the same sort of unattainable air that she had while dancing, but this time it was toned down. She looked much more gentle up close, her hair no longer pulled up in a tight bun but loose around her shoulders, the plain black leotard replaced by a simple jeans and a t-shirt. She looked so _real_ and it made Yato love her even more.

"Hiyori!"

She looked shocked, probably wondering why some random guy was calling her name. She inched forward cautiously.

"Do I know you?"

Yato couldn't help but think that he was probably coming off as really creepy.

"No, sorry, I just know you because I've seen your show. Yeah, sorry that was really creepy."

She laughed and Yato couldn't help but smile too because her laugh just had that sort of affect.

"That's ok. So…you saw my show? What did you think?"

"Amazing, as always," he paused, "to be honest, I've actually seen it multiple times."

"Oh?" Yato thanked God that she sounded pleasantly surprised rather than extremely freaked out. "That's very flattering."

Yato nodded enthusiastically. "I think you're amazing. Uh…I mean, you dance really well!" Yato cringed, that had come out very wrong.

"Thank you. Dancing is my life, so hearing praise is nice once in a while."

"What do you mean? I would think you get tons of compliments."

"Not really. Ballet is a cutthroat industry. If my teacher talks to me, she's yelling. And the other ballerinas…well it's a lot of competition." Her tone was frank, as if none of this terrible treatment affected her tremendously. Yato, on the other hand, was horrified.

"That's awful! You deserve much more praise. Though I will say, I do have the upmost respect for you staying with this business."

"Yeah, it gets tough," she paused, and Yato had the sudden fear that she was going to leave. "What's your name?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally speaking to the woman he had admired for weeks, and she wanted to know his name!

"Yato."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Yato," another pause, "I have a kind of weird question."

"Ask away." He had no idea what she was going to ask, but he knew that whatever it was he would answer.

"This might sound a bit weird but…would you like to go grab a drink?"

Yato froze. This night had gone from one of the most depressing to one of the most amazing in a span of ten minutes. This woman was even more amazing, strong, intelligent, and beautiful than he had seen from his place in the audience and she was asking him to have a drink!

"Of course! Oh my god, it would be my honor."

"Your honor? Well, that might going a bit far," she teased.

That night Yato finally got to divulge the mysteries that lay behind her eyes. He got admire the way they crinkled when she laughed or smiled in that contagious way that made him have to join in.

They talked all night and Yato was happy to discover that that connection he had felt with her had not just been some fantasy he had created in his head.

And in the very end, Yato got to see the way Hiyori's eyes lit up with pleasure when they slept together for the first time.

That night he fell asleep with the beautiful and once unattainable dancer in his arms.


End file.
